NEW YORK CITY -- If they can make it here, they can make it anywhere. Pinball guru Steve Epstein is bringing the classic coin-op game back to Manhattan, but not in an arcade. Modern Pinball NYC on 3rd Ave. between 26th and 27th Streets is an interactive showroom featuring brand-new pinballs and refurbished models, dating back to the early solid-state era (late 1980s). The retail showroom, where every game is for sale, is only 1,450 square feet, but it tidily packs up to 35 games. Small quarters in the back can be used for parties or as a staging area for events. Modern Pinball NYC is an official distributor for Jersey Jack Pinball, which began shipping its Wizard of Oz flipper game earlier this year. New games from Stern Pinball are also for sale, and are supplied and shipped by Modern Pinball's allied resellers, including Tilt Amusements (Ostrander, OH). 


The pinball venue is roughly the same size of Epstein's former Broadway Arcade, (the second one at 52nd St.), which closed in 1996. Its clientele comprised local coin-op fans, Broadway cast members and celebrities like Roberta Flack, Matthew Broderick and Paul Simon. Lou Reed held his wedding reception -- with 50 guests, cake and gifts -- at the Broadway Arcade. The musician and songwriter died on Oct. 27, the same day Modern Pinball NYC "unofficially" opened for a private party to celebrate the second birthday of Epstein's twin grandsons.

Nostalgia aside, Modern Pinball NYC is about a coin-op institution that has been struggling to find a place in a digital society. Since the Broadway Arcade shut down almost 20 years ago, Epstein has been a go-to guy for collectors, promoters, tournament organizers and manufacturers, and a spiritual figure to soul seekers searching for the meaning of pinball. At Modern Pinball NYC, Epstein's business partner is Steve Zahler, a 44-year-old Web developer from New Jersey, and a serious pinball collector and competitive player.

"We're going to offer white-glove service," Zahler reported. "Every machine must pass a thorough checklist. And taking care of customers is the top priority."

VT recently toured the facility and found every game in it to be in excellent working order and in pristine condition. The Addams Family (Bally/1992), Fun House (Williams/1990) and Flipper Football (Capcom/1996), along with Dr. Dude (Williams/1990), Bram Stoker's Dracula (Williams/1993) and Punchy the Clown (Alvin G. & Co./1993) are some of the solid-state games on display. Stern's Star Trek and Metallica pins, among other new titles, are also in the showroom.

Zahler grew up in New Rochelle, NY, where he spent his youth playing pinball at Nathan's. He hopes Modern Pinball NYC will introduce the classic game to kids and teens, and perhaps make it a family experience. Games on display, all set on free play, can also be played after paying a small admission fee.

With the devoted assistance of pinball enthusiasts Francesco LaRocca, Al Cihak and Eddie Cramer, among others, support for Modern Pinball NYC is growing. LaRocca is an experienced pinball tournament organizer; Cihak is a collector who has become one of the biggest pinball machine operators in the Big Apple; and Cramer is an expert at restoring games.

In addition to showcasing pinball machines and hosting special events, Epstein and Zahler are planning outreach programs to provide exposure to pinball to a much broader audience.

Epstein is a founder and co-chairman of the International Flipper Pinball Association, which is moving its official headquarters to the Modern Pinball site. The official opening of the venue will be celebrated this weekend, Nov.16 and 17, in conjunction with an IFPA tournament, the proceeds of benefiting the city's Food Bank.

Going forward, Epstein and Zahler, who is a top-ranking IFPA player in New Jersey, say tournaments will be a big part of their enterprise. Video footage of tournaments and player interviews will run on TV displays located throughout the store. TVs will also show high-score leaderboards.

The IFPA was created with the express purpose of encouraging, supporting and endorsing competitive pinball throughout the world. The organization provides oversight and assistance in establishing pinball leagues and organizing tournaments. At present, more than 450 IFPA events are staged annually.

The association endorses the World Pinball Tour events, which now boasts more than $500,000 in cash and prizes awarded each year. With 25 country directors around the world, the IFPA has created the first official player ranking system, which awards points based upon player performance. The World Pinball Player Rankings (WPPR) includes over 21,000 players from 40 different countries. And these numbers keep increasing, as people of all ages from all parts of the globe respond to the timeless appeal of the pinball machine's harnessing of Newtonian mechanics to human ingenuity to present an intriguing challenge to skill and quick reflexes.

"The staggering, explosive growth of the entire worldwide community of pinball players and enthusiasts has been nothing short of remarkable since we re-launched the IFPA just a few years ago," said association cofounder and co-chairman Roger Sharpe. "And the future has never looked brighter for pinball, with tournaments and leagues taking place around the world on an almost weekly basis. I know Modern Pinball NYC is going to become the must-visit place for everyone in the tri-state area."

For Epstein, creating a physical presence in New York City dedicated to pinball has been a long time coming. "Modern Pinball NYC will showcase the best that is pinball," the amusement industry veteran said. "And to have the IFPA headquarters based here is icing on the cake."

Modern Pinball NYC is located at 362 3rd Ave., New York, NY 10016. It's open seven days a week, from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Information can be had by calling (646) 415-8440; For parties and corporate events, call (908) 358-7773.

Click here for directions to Modern Pinball NYC.

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Legendo Entertainment's Pure Pinball is now available on the App Store. Players can download the game for iOS devices for $1.99. 


First introduced on PC and Xbox in 2003/2004, Pure Pinball returns to iOS devices with the newly created table T-Rex Savage that pits players as a savage dinosaur hunter during the Age of Reptiles. Jam-packed with nerve-racking game modes, special rewards and a daring multiball mode, Pure Pinball: T-Rex Savage lets you experience a slice of steel ball magic, not unlike real-life pinball. All you need is crazy-mad flipper fingers, a decent war-cry, and the attitude to play a mean game… the hunt is on! Additional tables are planned for release throughout 2014. 

To learn more, visit the Pure Pinball App Page. 

There was a time in New York City when pinball was illegal, and NYC Police Commissioner William O'Brien went around smashing machines. This dark time lasted over three decades, but in the end the pinball machine won. Even if it didn't, we'd like to believe that the Sunshine Laundromat would still exist today as some sort of prohibition pinball speakeasy.

The Greenpoint laundromat—located at 860 Manhattan Avenue—has around ten machines right now, set up right in the same room where you are laundering your clothes, so bring lots of quarters.

During the NYC Marathon over the weekend, the joint even hosted a Pinball Marathon—check it out below, courtesy of Citizen Productions.

See the video via http://gothamist.com/2013/11/06/pinball.php

At Pinballz Arcade, people can hear the clanging of tokens in hands and the pinging of pinballs whizzing through machines — sounds of a seemingly bygone era that continues here
in Austin.

Darren Spohn and his wife Mikki opened Pinballz in 2010 and have provided Austin with its pinball fix ever since. Spohn has run tech and IT companies in town for 15 years, but his love for pinball machines began long before that. 

“I asked my wife ‘Do you mind if I get a pinball machine?’ and she said ‘Oh, that’s fine,’” Spohn said. “I bought it and I said ‘Well, I actually bought two,’ and then like a week later we’re out at lunch, and I said ‘Hey, I’ve got to tell you — I have seven of these now,’ and it just kind of blossomed from there.”

What began as a personal collection has now grown to more than 100 pinball machines and a cadre of old-school video and ticket-rewarding games. 

“We really felt that the town needed something different like that,” Spohn said. “It needed a kind of cool, ‘Cheers bar’ approach to running one of those. And we figured we’d give it a shot, and we opened it three years ago, and it’s been very successful.”

Pinballz is family-oriented during the day, but when the sun goes down, the atmosphere gets downright adult. Gamers stay late into the night on weekends, which may or may not be aided by the casual BYOB policy for those 21 and older.

A specialized arcade such as Pinballz did not exist in Austin outside of giant family entertainment centers. 

With more than 200 games, the biggest challenge facing the arcade is simply keeping everything running, from AC/DC pinball to Dance Dance Revolution and from the classic Skeeball to a custom-built big screen Street Fighter.
“We have over 100 games and things go constantly wrong on those,” Spohn said. “We don’t charge a lot of money for our games, so it’s a challenge with what we charge to keep everything running at 95 percent or higher.”

William “Billy” Renquen has worked on these games since the arcade opened. A certified master auto-mechanic by trade, Renquen keeps the flippers flipping at Pinballz in addition to running his own auto-shop.

“When we first opened three years ago, they were running maybe 60-70 percent, and I was fixing five to seven games a day,” Renquen said. “It took me about a year to catch up and have all of them running at once.”

Machines go down daily at Pinballz, and it’s up to Renquen and his team to get them back up.

“The machines are high maintenance,” Renquen said. “They vibrate a lot. There’s a lot of movement going on, so they fail pretty constantly — some more than others. You just work as fast as you can and as hard as you can … It’s a pride thing for me to keep them all running.”

Pinballz harkens to the early days of arcade gaming. It’s not merely the games that bring back nostalgia for an era the college generation missed.

“To us it’s rewarding that we brought in a place like that — that really ramps up Austin,” Spohn said. “It’s that really cool feeling that we brought something unique to Austin.” 

via www.dailytexanonline.com/2013/11/03/pinballz-arcade-provides-a-nostalgic-gaming-experience

NORTH HILLS- Stephen Scohy's North Hills basement is a step back in time.

The walls are adorned with late 1970s, early 1980s memorabilia including glass placards advertising arcade games, candy and gum machines.

There's also a soundtrack. Scohy bought recordings of the 1980s American Top 40, complete with advertisements.

And then there's the games, more than two dozen vintage pinball and arcade machines. The machines in the basement are only part of Scohy's collection, most of which date between 1976 and 1984.

"It's a crazy hobby that keeps me sane," he said.

Scohy has acquired and repaired about 60 pinball machines and close to 25 video arcade games; most were games he played as a kid at the Escape Hatch, the Corner Pocket and FunLand. His Dig Dug machine used to sit at Skate County in south Parkersburg.

He started collecting pinball machines in 1999 when he rediscovered his love for the games.

He bought his first pinball machine, Rock.

"Growing up in Vienna there wasn't much to do," he said.

As a kid, Scohy would mow lawns and shovel snow to earn money to go to the arcade.

"Pinball was the first game I was good at," he said. "I had a crowd that would watch me play."

It wasn't long after he started purchasing the machines that Scohy got into repairing them.

"The second game I got broke," he said.

Scohy learned how to fix it from the Internet and from a friend in Boaz, William McCormick. He has learned to repair the machines and now prefers to purchase ones that no longer work.

"It's more fun to play detective and fix them," he said.

In the 14 years he's been collecting, Scohy also has amassed a collection of parts and play fields. Scohy will scout the Internet and want ads for machines he can repair.

His favorites are people who call him offering to sell machines that used to work.


Read more via newsandsentinel.com